Why Latifa Al Maktoum, Dubai ruler's daughter, fled UAE: Her story in her own words

The ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister of United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is under global scrutiny for alleged forceful confinement and perhaps even murder of his daughter Latifa.

Reports said the princess was captured in a highly secretive operation last March, some 50 km away from the coast of Goa from a US flag carrier and forcibly taken back to the UAE. 

She was said to be running away from oppressive confinement with her friend, an alleged French-born US spy. Since then, there has been no news of the princess, and many fear that she may have been murdered. Before her escape attempt, she recorded a video Latifa said that she was fleeing the Emirates due to restrictions imposed by her family. 

After a planning of 7 years, Latifa fled the country in February 2018 and made it to 30 miles off the Indian coast near Goa on board a yacht before being captured. The video was later released on social media after she was intercepted and taken back to Dubai. She has not been seen or heard from since. Her friend and lawyer spoke exclusively to WION about the princess's daring escape from a gilded cage and subsequent capture.

Here is what we know about Latifa Al Maktoum: 

Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum is the 33-year-old daughter of the Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. In the video recorded by her, she said she was born on December 5, 1985. Her mother is from Algeria. 

In the video recorded by her, she said the ruler has three daughters called Latifa and she is the middle one. According to her own account, she is one of the five daughters and one among 30 children of the ruler. 

In the 40-minute video, Latifa said she previously tried to flee UAE in 2002 when she was 16 but was captured at the border. She spent over three years in jail where she said she was beaten and tortured.

"If you are watching this video then either I am dead or in a very very bad situation," she declared in the video. "I need to make this video in case I don't make it." 

After plotting her escape for over seven years, she again fled the country in February 2018 with the help of Finnish national Tiina Jauhiainen and French-born US spy Herve Jaubert.  The UAE government's stand is that Herve Jaubert, the US spy, had conspired against the royal family using the Princess as leverage. Haigh said a similar rumour had been floated about him, accusing him of being a Qatari spy. He fears this episode will end up like the Khashoggi tragedy.

Jauhiainen, who had befriended the princess in 2010 while teaching her capoeira, says Latifa had confided her in 2017 about an affair and sought her help to escape from Dubai. "We had lost a close friend in a skydiving accident," says Jauhianinen, "and also her sister Shamsa's situation had gotten worse after she was caught trying to escape palace life. Latifa thought life is too short to wait for things to improve, and she didn't want to end up like Shamsa. In fact, she wanted to leave to be able to help her find freedom too. Another reason for leaving was simply to be able to have freedom of choice and movement — a basic human right."

Also Read: Dubai ruler's missing daughter feared dead

In February 2018, she escaped Dubai to Oman in a car then boarded a dinghy to international waters. She boarded the US flag carrier yacht anchored 30 miles off the coast of Oman. "The plan was to sail to India and fly from there to the USA, where she was planning to claim political asylum," Jauhiainen said.

However, she was intercepted by the Indian coast guard off the Goa coast and Jauhiainen has not heard from her since March 4.

Her law and international crisis manager, David Haigh, told WION that he had got the details of Latifa's travails from the royal family's British PA, Collete. "A mutual friend contacted her over phone, and I contacted her on WhatsApp," says Haigh, "She was meant to call me back or have Latifa's brother contact me, but they did not. It felt like she had gone to her bosses, maybe the ruler."

The UN, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other groups have been demanding information from the UAE about her whereabouts for over nine months. Two UN bodies have even written to India about the secret operation conducted in international waters.